diff --git a/hbase-mapreduce/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/WALPlayer.java b/hbase-mapreduce/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/WALPlayer.java
index 3c34942d262..52518877c79 100644
--- a/hbase-mapreduce/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/WALPlayer.java
+++ b/hbase-mapreduce/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/WALPlayer.java
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ public class WALPlayer extends Configured implements Tool {
       // No reducers.
       job.setNumReduceTasks(0);
     }
-    String codecCls = WALCellCodec.getWALCellCodecClass(conf);
+    String codecCls = WALCellCodec.getWALCellCodecClass(conf).getName();
     try {
       TableMapReduceUtil.addDependencyJarsForClasses(job.getConfiguration(), Class.forName(codecCls));
     } catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/AbstractProtobufLogWriter.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/AbstractProtobufLogWriter.java
index ae084a438e9..ff2864d533f 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/AbstractProtobufLogWriter.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/AbstractProtobufLogWriter.java
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractProtobufLogWriter {
       builder.setWriterClsName(getWriterClassName());
     }
     if (!builder.hasCellCodecClsName()) {
-      builder.setCellCodecClsName(WALCellCodec.getWALCellCodecClass(conf));
+      builder.setCellCodecClsName(
+          WALCellCodec.getWALCellCodecClass(conf).getName());
     }
     return builder.build();
   }
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/WALCellCodec.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/WALCellCodec.java
index 34d83f7817a..5aa943f1d84 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/WALCellCodec.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/WALCellCodec.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import java.io.OutputStream;
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.Cell;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.CellUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseInterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.PrivateCellUtil;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue;
@@ -82,8 +81,8 @@ public class WALCellCodec implements Codec {
     this.compression = compression;
   }
 
-  public static String getWALCellCodecClass(Configuration conf) {
-    return conf.get(WAL_CELL_CODEC_CLASS_KEY, WALCellCodec.class.getName());
+  public static Class<?> getWALCellCodecClass(Configuration conf) {
+    return conf.getClass(WAL_CELL_CODEC_CLASS_KEY, WALCellCodec.class);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -102,7 +101,7 @@ public class WALCellCodec implements Codec {
   public static WALCellCodec create(Configuration conf, String cellCodecClsName,
       CompressionContext compression) throws UnsupportedOperationException {
     if (cellCodecClsName == null) {
-      cellCodecClsName = getWALCellCodecClass(conf);
+      cellCodecClsName = getWALCellCodecClass(conf).getName();
     }
     return ReflectionUtils.instantiateWithCustomCtor(cellCodecClsName, new Class[]
         { Configuration.class, CompressionContext.class }, new Object[] { conf, compression });
@@ -121,7 +120,7 @@ public class WALCellCodec implements Codec {
    */
   public static WALCellCodec create(Configuration conf,
       CompressionContext compression) throws UnsupportedOperationException {
-    String cellCodecClsName = getWALCellCodecClass(conf);
+    String cellCodecClsName = getWALCellCodecClass(conf).getName();
     return ReflectionUtils.instantiateWithCustomCtor(cellCodecClsName, new Class[]
         { Configuration.class, CompressionContext.class }, new Object[] { conf, compression });
   }
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/TestCustomWALCellCodec.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/TestCustomWALCellCodec.java
index 9391a85f4af..6add84fa7a3 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/TestCustomWALCellCodec.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/wal/TestCustomWALCellCodec.java
@@ -64,4 +64,15 @@ public class TestCustomWALCellCodec {
     assertEquals("Custom codec didn't get initialized with the right compression context!", null,
       codec.context);
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Test that a custom {@link WALCellCodec} will fail if provided an invalid
+   * code class.
+   */
+  @Test(expected = RuntimeException.class)
+  public void testCreatePreparesCodecInvalidClass() throws Exception {
+    Configuration conf = new Configuration(false);
+    conf.setStrings(WALCellCodec.WAL_CELL_CODEC_CLASS_KEY, "org.apache.hbase.wal.NoSuchClass");
+    WALCellCodec.create(conf, null, null);
+  }
 }